Foundation garments for women



April 30, 1963 D. HART 3,087,495

FOUNDATION GARMENTS FOR WOMEN Filed Oct. 51, 1960 United States Patent 3,087,495 FOUNDATION GARMENTS FOR WOMEN Diane Hart, London, England, assignor to Hearts Delight Limited, London, England, a British company Filed Oct. 31, 1960, Ser. No. 66,232 Claims priority, application Great Britain Nov. 4, 1959 Claims. (Cl. 128-528) This invention relates to foundation garments for women and more particularly to such garments generally referred to as pantie girdles.

One known form of pantie girdle includes, as seen in elevation, a first or front panel of substantially inelastic material opposed upright edges of which are joined to respective corresponding edges of a second panel of elastic material, the lower edge of the front panel being united with or formed in one with an edge of a crotch piece an opposite edge of which is secured to a central part of the lower edge of the second panel. In use portions of the second panel on respective opposite sides of the first panel tightly engage the upper parts of the wearers legs and by virtue of the resilient nature of the second panel bulges of flesh appear on the legs immediately subjacent the girdle. These bulges can often be seen through the outer garments of the wearer and are unsightly. It is one object of the present invention to provide an improved pantie girdle use of which avoids the formation of flesh bulges on the legs of the wearer. Another disadvantage of this known type of girdle is that the resilient nature of the second panel has the effect that in use the second panel is stretched and the anterior abdominal part of the wearer engaged by the first panel is thereby disposed in a forwardly projecting and unsightly attitude. A further object of the present invention is to provide a pantie girdle which provides improved support for the anterior abdominal portion of the wearer engaged by the girdle.

According to the present invention a pantie girdle comprises, as seen in front elevation, front and rear panels which extend downwardly at least from approximately waist level of the wearer and which are formed from material which is substantially inelastic at least in a circumferential direction, a crotch piece connecting 'a lower part of the front panel with a lower part of the rear panel and side panels of resilient fabric each connected along opposite upright edges thereof with corresponding upright edges of the front and rear panels, lower edges of the girdle formed by the front, rear and side panels being upwardly and outwardly curved away from the crotch piece so as substantially to follow the line of the groin of the wearer.

The invention will now be described by way of example, with reference to the accompanying, somewhat diagrammatic drawings, in which:

FIGURES .1, 2 and 3 depict plan views respectively of a front, a rear and a side panel of a pantie girdle according to the invention; and

FIGURE 4 is a perspective view of a pantie girdle in a position of use and according to the invention.

Referring to the drawings, a pantie girdle 1 comprises a front panel 3, a rear panel 5 and two side panels 7. The front panel 3 which is formed from substantially inelastic textile fabric, as viewed in front elevation in the finished garment, includes an upper edge 9, upright side edges 11 and 13 and lower edges 15 and 17 connected at lower ends thereof by a V-shaped edge part 19. The rear panel 5 which is formed from textile fabric is substantially inelastic at least in a direction circumferential with respect to the wearer though it may be formed, if desired, from textile fabric having a degree of elasticity in a sense longitudinally of the wearer. The panel 5 as 3,337,495 Patented Apr, 30, 1963 ice viewed in front elevation in the finished garment includes an upper edge 21, upright side edges 23 and 25 and lower edges 27 and 29 connected at lower ends thereof by an edge part 31 of a shape complementary with that of the edge part 19. A lowermost part 33- of the rear panel constitutes a crotch piece of the girdle when the edge parts 19 and 31 are sewn together. It will be appreciated, however, that the crotch piece may be formed as a separate piece and may be detachably secured in known manner to the panels 3 and 5.

Each side panel 7 is formed preferably from mesh elastic material and is resiliently stretchable circumferentially and longitudinally with respect to the wearer. The side panels 7 each include as viewed in elevation in the finished garment an upper edge 35, a lower edge 37 and front and rear upright edges 39 and 41.

Secured alongside the lower edges 27 and 29 of the rear panel 5 and preferably also alongside the edge 37 of each side panel 7 are respective strips 28 of stretched elastic textile material the purpose of which is to obviate the appearance of bagginess at the rear of the garment when the garment is in use.

To assemble the garment, the edge parts 19 and 3-1 are secured together by stitching, the edge 11 of the front panel 3 is stitched to the edge 39 of one of the side panels 7 and the edges 23 and 25 of the rear panel 5 are stitched respectively to the rear edges 41 of the side panels. The corresponding edges 13 and 39 of the front 'and one of the side panels are secured by stitching together over short lowermost lengths thereof and the remaining lengths of these edges are provided for the purpose of access to and from the garment with complementary fastening means, suitably hook and eye fasteners 43 or, alternatively, for example a sliding clasp fastener.

The edges 9, 21 and 35 define an upper edge of the finished girdle to which is attached a band 45 of elastic textile fabric, which when the girdle is in use is disposed approximately at or somewhat above the waist level of the wearer. Thus the upper edge of the garment engages the body of the wearer at a location where surplus flesh is not customarily present and therefore no flesh bulges I tend to form above the level of the garment.

The edges 15, 29 and 37 and edges 17, 27 and 37 define the lower edges of leg holes of the garment. As will be seen from the drawings the edges '15, 29, 17, 27 and 37 all are curved in a direction upwardly and outwardly away from the crotch piece 33 and the front edges at least of the leg holes thus formed reside substantially in the groins of the wearer where no appreciable surplus of flesh is usually present. Thus no flesh bulges tend to appear below the leg-holes of the garment when the latter is in situ.

As will be apparent from the drawings, the front and rear panels 3 and 5 extend over a substantial part of the circumference of the wearer and the side panels 7 are correspondingly short as regards their circumferential span. Thus, the stretchability circumferentially of the girdle is limited to an extent greater than has been the case hitherto in such garments. Because of this improved support a flattening effect is imparted to the anterior ab dominal region of the wearer of the girdle.

When in position on the wearer, the strips 28 of elastic textile material are nearly fully stretched and the appearance of bagginess occasioned by the fullness of material required for the seat in the lower part of the panel 5 is avoided.

For decorative effect the front panel is covered with lace 51 and the leg holes are also trimmed with bands 53 of lace.

For supporting stockings from the girdle, the edges of ;he leg holes have secured thereto suspenders 55 of known orm.

What I claim is:

1. A pantie girdle comprising front and rear panels, a crotch piece connecting the front and rear panels at the lower edges thereof, and side panels, each connected along opposite upright edges thereof with the front and rear panels, characterized by the following features:

A. the front and rear panels are (1) substantially inelastic circumferentially and (2) are of a width to embrace a substantial part of the circumference of the wearer B. the side panels are (1) each circumferentially shorter than either the front or the rear panel, and (2) are of substantially resilient material;

C. the front, rear and side panels are of lengths to extend downwardly from substantially the Waist level of the wearer; and

D. the lower edges of the front and side panels are curved upwardly and outwardly away from the crotch piece, extending from the latter at substantial oblique angles so as to closely follow the line of the groin of a person Wearing the garment.

2. A pantie girdle as claimed in claim 1, wherein releasable fastening means are provided along a substantial length both of an upright edge of the front panel and the corresponding edge of the adjacent side panel.

3. A pantie girdle as claimed in claim 1, wherein the the crotch piece is formed in one with the rear panel.

4. A pantie girdle as claimed in claim 1, wherein along lower edges of the girdle on opposite sides of the crotch piece are provided resilient suspender means for supporting stockings in relation to the girdle.

5. A pantie girdle as claimed in claim 1, wherein the crotch piece is releasably attached to the front and rear panels.

6. The pantie girdle of claim 1, further characterized by strips of stretched elastic material extending lengthwise along the lower edges of the rear and side panels.

7. The pantie girdle of claim 6, further characterized by the fact that said strips of stretched elastic material also extend lengthwise along the side edges of the crotch piece.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS D. 35,708 Wensch Feb. 11, 1902 2,397,641 Blair Apr. 2, 1946 2,638,900 Gruenberg et al May 19, 1953 2,875,765 Lax Mar. 3, 1959 

1. A PANTIE GIRDLE COMPRISING FRONT AND REAR PANELS, A CROTCH PIECE CONNECTING THE FRONT AND REAR PANELS AT THE LOWER EDGES THEREOF, AND SIDE PANELS, EACH CONNECTED ALONG OPPOSITE UPRIGHT EDGES THEREOF WITH THE FRONT AND REAR PANELS, CHARACTERIZED BY THE FOLLOWING FEATURES: A. THE FRONT AND REAR PANELS ARE (1) SUBSTANTIALLY INELASTIC CIRCUMFERENTIALLY AND (2) ARE OF A WIDTH TO EMBRACE A SUBSTANTIAL PART OF THE CIRCUMFERENCE OF THE WEARER B. THE SIDE PANELS ARE (1) EACH CIRCUMFERENTIALLY SHORTER THAN EITHER THE FRONT OR THE REAR PANEL, AND (2) ARE OF SUBSTANTIALLY RESILIENT MATERIAL; C. THE FRONT, REAR AND SIDE PANELS ARE OF LENGTHS TO EXTEND DOWNWARDLY FROM SUBSTANTIALLY THE WAIST LEVEL OF THE WEARER; AND D. THE LOWER EDGES OF THE FRONT AND SIDE PANELS ARE CURVED UPWARDLY AND OUTWARDLY AWAY FROM THE CROTCH PIECE, EXTENDING FROM THE LATTER AT SUBSTANTIAL OBLIQUE ANGLES SO AS TO CLOSELY FOLLOW THE LINE OF THE GROIN OF A PERSON WEARING THE GARMENT. 